RU baseball surging heading into Big East Tournament

The last time the Rutgers baseball team was in Clearwater, Fla., the chances of making a return trip for the Big East Tournament seemed pretty slim.

The Scarlet Knights left Florida’s gulf coast with a 1-5 record, but have turned their fortunes around since then. And now they’re back in Clearwater, making their first appearance in the conference tournament since winning both the Big East regular-season and tournament titles in 2007.

The sixth-seeded Scarlet Knights will meet third-seeded Pittsburgh in the Big East Tournament Wednesday, 10 a.m., in the opening-round of the eight-team, double-elimination stanza that concludes Sunday with the championship game at Bright House Field.

“”We struggled in the beginning of the year, obviously trying to find out what kind of team we are,” said Jarred Jimenez, a senior outfielder from Monroe. “”We’re a totally different team since the last time we were here.”

According to Mike Lang, the Scarlet Knights wouldn’t be were they are today if it wasn’t for the quality competition they faced early in the season. On paper, they started off 1-8 but the Scarlet Knights junior right fielder says facing the likes of Miami, Georgia Tech and playing in the Big Ten Challenge made Rutgers a battle-tested team once they returned to New Jersey in March.

“”We’ve definitely come a long way,” said Lang, whose batting .319 with 11 homers, 32 RBI and a team-best 61 runs scored while starting 51 games for the 28-24 Scarlet Knights. “”We ratcheted up our competition more than most teams do and obviously started out a little rough. But I think that ultimately prepared us for where we are now.”

Winners of seven of their last 11 games heading into the postseason, the Scarlet Knights face a Pittsburgh team that they beat two out of three in Piscataway in early April.

Casey Gaynor, a senior right-hander who earned a complete-game victory in his lone regular-season meeting with the Panthers, is expected to draw the mound assignment against a Pitt club that compiled a 37-16 overall record and an 18-8 Big East mark this spring.

“”We had success against Pittsburgh during the regular season so hopefully we can carry it over to the postseason,” said Jimenez, whose team will face either Cincinnati or Connecticut on Thursday morning. “”We’re going into this tournament thinking we can win the whole thing.”

About Keith Sargeant

Keith Sargeant is a graduate of Middlesex County College and Kean University. A Home News Tribune staff writer since August 1997, Keith has been covering Rutgers sports since 2000, serving as the Scarlet Knights' football beat writer since 2006.

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About the Author

Jerry CarinoJerry Carino has covered sports for the Gannett New Jersey newspapers since 1996 and has been on the college basketball beat since 2003. A native of Old Bridge, he also teaches journalism at Kean University.E-mail Jerry

Josh NewmanJosh Newman has worked for the Press since September 2004 and began covering Shore Conference sports full time in September 2006. He is a 2004 graduate of Springfield College with a degree in communications/sports journalism.E-mail Josh

Ryan DunleavyRyan Dunleavy has covered Rutgers athletics for more than a decade, dating back to his days as a student at his alma mater. He became New Jersey Press Media’s Rutgers women’s basketball beat writer in 2009 and Rutgers football beat writer in 2013. Since joining the staff in 2004, the Morris County native also has covered the NFL, MLB, NBA, the Somerset Patriots and high school sports.E-mail Ryan